This Day in Horror History: Frank Henenlotter’s BRAIN DAMAGE Was Unleashed
Mike Sprague
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32 years ago, Basket Case and Frankenhooker director Frank Henenlotter’s killer cult classic horror-comedy Brain Damage was unleashed upon an unsuspecting public. Henenlotter said that the film was initially ignored and disliked but went on to acquire a cult following on VHS.
Produced for an estimated $900,000, the flick centers on a young New Yorker who becomes enthralled to the will of an evil disembodied brain. With the young man’s help, the brain tours New York’s nightlife scene in search of potential nourishment — other brains that it can consume.
Check out the trailer below.
Trivia:
- The film hit theaters via Palisades Entertainment on April 15, 1988.
- Frank Henenlotter reportedly gave up cocaine and wrote this film as a metaphor.
- On the subway, Brian sees a man carrying a big basket with a lock on it. The character is Duane Bradley w/Belail inside the basket from Frank Henenlotter’s previous film, Basket Case.
- The theatrical and original home-video releases deleted the gruesome scenes, such as the “fellatio” gag, which caused the crew to walk out of the production refusing to work on the scene.
- Brian has an unexplained cut on his lip all throughout the film. It was a part of a subplot involving him getting into a fight the night before defending his brother in a bar fight. But due to time restraints, the explanation scenes were never filmed. Frank Hennenlotter claimed that he had makeup effects give Rick Hearst a split lip throughout the movie because he thought he “looked too fucking pretty” and that it wasn’t from a deleted fight scene
- As Brian wakes up for the first time in his bed, his head covered in blood, an album poster is spotted on the wall, Slayer’s “Reign In Blood”. (Source)
It stars Rick Hearst as Brian, Jennifer Lowry as Barbara, Theo Barnes as Morris, Lucille Saint Peter as Martha, Kevin Van Hentenryck as Man with a basket, and John Zacherle as the voice of Aylmer.
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